Wednesday, 3 May 2017

I've been pouring over Will
Romano's book for about a fortnight now and there's both good news and bad -
with the bad being largely out of his control and the good news hugely outweighing any annoying omissions.

At the age of 58 (I'm 59
this September) - I'm probably one of the old gits this New York writer has
aimed his book at. Romano has already penned a tome on the subject of
Progressive Rock - "Mountains Come Out Of The Sky: The Illustrated History
Of Prog Rock - Prog Rock FAQ" - which was an excellent and truly
informative read(aka "PROG ROCK FAQ"). Romano has also scribed a homage to a fave subject of mine called - "Big Boss Man: The Life & Music Of Bluesman Jimmy
Reed". So he's not new to this music-book malarkey...

"Close To The Edge: How
Yes's Masterpiece Defined Prog Rock" was published March 2017 by Backbeat
Books in oversized paperback - 288-pages of seriously in-depth detail about a
September 1972 album that amazed then - and is still making jaws drop 45 years
later in 2017.

The fourth YES album "Close
To The Edge" had only three tracks - one of which was the 18-minute 4-part
"Close To The Edge" suite on Side 1. The others over on Side 2 were
"And You and I" - four-parts at just under eleven minutes - and
"Siberian Khatru" (all one track) at just under ten minutes. "Close
To The Edge" had taken months to rehearse and record and cemented the rep
given this most British of bands by adventurous Rock with "The Yes
Album" and "Fragile" from either end of 1971.

Centred are 12-pages of
photos - but only one of the cover – no rear, no inner gatefold, no inner bag?
For an album that was so dominated by Roger Dean's artwork - especially the
inner painting and the beautifully CTTE scripted lyric bag - it's absence here
gives you no insight into what the actual LP looked like - that whole tactile
thing. I dare say Romano and Backbeat couldn't get clearance from Dean to
reproduce that inner sleeve that so many of us poured over back in the day (I
even copied the writing into my schoolbooks) or even show the other three
unused RD paintings that turned up for our titillation on the Steve Wilson
Remixed 'Panegyric' reissues of 2013 (CD and BLU RAY).

He does reproduce the
American A-side label for Atlantic SD 19133 - but sloppily it's a late 70s
pressing with the corporate Warner Brothers logo and not an American original.
Besides - where's the British original LP label for such a very British band -
the Orange and Yellow variant of Atlantic K 50012? The other photos are of band
members - the sadly passed Bassist Chris Squire in a church choir as a child -
an Atlantic Records 'Gold' LPs trade advert for 1972 and so. They’re good – but
I think they missed a trick here by not having the actual artwork…

Impressively detailed
reminiscences come from Engineer Eddy Offord, lead singer Jon Anderson,
keyboard-whiz Rick Wakeman and everyone else who was key to the project. There
are histories of each player (Wakeman with The Strawbs - Bruford with King Crimson
etc) - the torturous recording process where certain tracks ended up in a bin
by mistake - the endless layers on layers - Steve Howe's amazing guitar playing
- Wakeman the same.

This is a good book on an
album that actually bears up to this level of scrutiny. It’s just a shame that
the very thing that turned us on (as much as the awesome music did) - isn't
here – how it looked - the visuals. Fans will know what I mean…

But the best compliment I
can pay "Close To The Edge" the book is that it made me want to drag
out my Steve Wilson Remastered CD reissue again. And as those 'climb clear of
the morning' lyrics and gorgeous acoustic guitar themes kicked in on "And
You And I" - not for the first time with this groundbreaking record - I
shed a little Proggy tear.

SOME OF MY E-BOOKS FOR SALE on AMAZON

About Me

To date I've over 3500 posts/reviews and 80+ Listmania Lists on Amazon UK - most are for quality music CD REMASTERS and FILMS on BLU RAY.

I'm a Top 15 Reviewer on Amazon UK and have been a 'Hall Of Fame' Reviewer for some years now...

They feature recommendations from years of trawling through digipaks and flicks. I tend to highlight reissues and remasters that have slipped through the net and movies on DVD and BLU RAY that deserve your attention/reappraisal.

My music reviews are in-depth - focusing on decent remasters - interesting imports - rarities - info that helps a purchase decision etc. And I often provide a Discography for Box Sets and multiples and detailed track lists for reissues.

Loved the awesome re-issues of Steve McQueen by PREFAB SPROUT and Strangers Almanac by WHISKEYTOWN [with Ryan Adams]. The three definitive Bear Family Series - Street Corner Symphonies (1934 to 1958 Vocal Groups), Blowing The Fuse (1945 to 1960 R'n'B - most reviewed) and Sweet Soul Music (1961 to 1975 - all 15 reviewed).

Check out the beautiful Scottish Folk of Black Water by KRIS DREVER (2006) and the Sahara rocking beat of TINARIWEN'S Aman Iman - Water Is Life. 2011 saw Jethro Tull's Aqualung receive a stunning makeover by Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree and 2012 has Just As I Am by Bill Withers be given a top remaster by Big Break Records of the UK. Loving the 2013 Japanese SHM-CD reissues of J.J. Cale and the 2012 to 2015 Japan-Only Atlantic 1000: Best R&B Collection (see Joe Turner reviews). Small Faces Here Come The Nice and The Blue Nile's Hats & Peace At Last Deluxe Editions for 2014. Digging Edsel's 4CD Box Sets For The Beat and The Sound - superb. Edsel's Wilson Pickett and Percy Sledge CD Reissues from late 2016 are also superb.

Films - The Help, Lincoln, The Bands Visit, Man On A Ledge, The Grey, Mr. Nobody, Third Star, Caramel, Easy-A, Crash, United 93, The Insider, Death To Smoochy, Babel, Kinsey, Bright Star, Stranger Than Fiction, Imagine Me & You, The Namesake, After The Wedding, Seraphim Falls, Michael Clayton, Frankie Go Boom, Infamous, Gran Torino, The Blind Side, Invictus, Crazy Heart, Ondine, Amelie, Four Lions, Young Victoria, Untouchable, Jo Nesbo's Headhunters and The Secret In Their Eyes are what's most impressed in the last while. The Shawshank Redemption is for me the greatest film ever made, Cinema Paradiso the most beautiful and Nil By Mouth the most powerful.

I've also raved about gorgeous new restorations of The Italian Job, Goldfinger, African Queen, Back To The Future, O Brother Where Art Thou?, North By Northwest, To Catch A Thief, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Sting on Blu Ray - can't recommend these enough.

I'm Irish (originally from Dublin) and married with 3 grown-up kids - one of which has autism (The Beautiful Dean).

I was a vinyl rarities buyer and put-upon expert in Reckless Records (Soho, London) for over 20 years and have contributed to many of the Record Collector Rare Record Price Guides.

Currently freelance writer/reviewer. Have written four screenplays - "The Cloths Of Heaven", "Silas", "An English Lady - The Eglantyne Jebb Story" and "Full Of Grace" which I'll discuss with Film Industry Insiders.